Sony credit rating cut by Standard & Poor's

Increased global competition in its core electronics business prompts the first downgrade in over a decade.

Today, the globe's preeminent provider of credit rating and risk analysis, Standard & Poor's, downgraded Sony's credit rating from A+ to A. While often considered one of the more arcane aspects of a business enterprise, a company's credit rating has monumental impact on its borrowing power and subsequent ability to secure loans at favorable interest rates.

Osamu Kobayashi, the S&P analyst who outlined the rating change, said, "The downgrade and negative outlook primarily reflect Sony's profitability, which has been strained from product and price competition, especially in its core electronics business, where there is still uncertainty regarding sustainable improvement in Sony's earnings-generating ability."

News source: GameSpot